


Twas the Night Before Winsol

by Minna Leigh (minnaleigh)



Category: Anne Bishop - Black Jewels Series
Genre: Gen, Yuletide, challenge:Yuletide 2006
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 13:35:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1094476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minnaleigh/pseuds/Minna%20Leigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Thanks to Jae Gecko for the beta and to Kathryne for the plotting input.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Twas the Night Before Winsol

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rachael Sabotini](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Rachael+Sabotini).



> Thanks to Jae Gecko for the beta and to Kathryne for the plotting input.

"There's nothing to celebrate!" Karla's voice carried through the door. "Not this year!" Wilhelmina hesitated, not wanting to interrupt. "Not with Morton dead and Jaenelle... Hell's fire!" A loud bang, like furniture hitting a stone wall, made Wilhelmina jump. The voices inside grew quieter and Wilhelmina could no longer make out the words.

She bit her lip and started backing away from the door. These weren't her friends; she didn't know why she'd accepted Morghann's invitation. She took a step back from the door, and began to turn away. The door opened and Khardeen was standing there.

"Happy Winsol!" Khardeen held his hands out in formal greeting. Wilhelmina slid her hands beneath his, returning the gesture. "Go right in- the girls are in the drawing room." Khardeen helped Wilhelmina off with her coat. "I'm just running in to Magre to pick up Morghann's Winsol gift. I'll be back soon." The door closed behind him and it was too late for Wilhelmina to leave. She smoothed down her dress and entered the drawing room.

Two women sat by the fire, one round with red hair spiralling around her face, the other thin with white-blond spiky hair. As Wilhelmina walked further into the room, both women turned to her. Morghann stood up, her late-stage pregnancy causing her to move slowly and awkwardly, and hugged her. "Happy Winsol. We're so glad you could join us."

"Happy Winsol," Wilhelmina said, returning the hug with rigid arms. "Happy Winsol, Karla."

"For you, maybe," Karla spoke from her seat on the couch. She waved in a vague sort of a greeting. "Kiss kiss."

Wilhelmina faltered and looked away. She'd obviously said the wrong thing. Although Karla could at least be civil. She stared into the fire and blinked rapidly for a moment. From the corner of her eye she could see Morghann glaring at Karla and she knew that thoughts were flying between them, on a thread she wasn't powerful enough to hear. Wilhelmina decided to ignore both the spoken and unspoken comments, moved over to a chair and sat down.

"Would you like something to eat? To drink?" Morghann asked.

Wilhelmina started to stand. Morghann looked like the babe could come any minute. "Let me... you should be sitting!"

"You're beginning to sound like Khary! I feel well and I'm perfectly capable of carrying a cup of wine three feet." Morghann poured a goblet of wine and placed a few nutcakes on a plate. She carried the refreshments over to Wilhelmina. "Did you walk from the village? We could have arranged a ride."

"No, Andrew dropped me off." Wilhelmina took a sip of wine.

"Andrew?" Karla raised her eyebrows. "Jaenelle's ex-groom Andrew? You should have brought him. I'm sure Morghann would have welcomed your date."

Wilhelmina's hand tightened on the glass of wine. "It's not like that."

"Ah, just bedroom games, then?" Karla laughed a speculative laugh, her voice low and rough.

"I don't... We aren't..." Wilhelmina folded in on herself in the chair. Not that. Never that. She took a gulp of wine. Karla had better shut her mouth.

Morghann set her own glass down on the table and turned to Wilhelmina. "Andrew was Jaenelle's groom? Your groom? In Chaillot?"

"Yes, when we were children. He was the one who taught us to ride. Taught *me* to ride, that is. Jaenelle was born to ride." Wilhelmina smiled into her wine glass. "He used to take us riding and once we were out of sight of the house, he and Jaenelle would switch mounts. Andrew could just barely fit on her pony." She laughed at the memory and Morghann joined in. "She would take Dark Dancer, he was so big and mean, he frightened me but she would ride him with ease."

"Oh, that reminds me of Jaenelle riding Kaetien the summer we all lived with Saetan. We were always getting into trouble. Remember, Karla?"

Karla shrugged. Wilhelmina had to grit her teeth to keep from saying something sharp to her. She'd missed out on all those years with her sister and Karla didn't even seem to appreciate the memories!

The sound of Morghann's voice drew her attention back to the story. "Like the time Jaenelle went off with Smoke and asked us to keep Saetan from finding out. By dinnertime pretending that she'd always just left the room stopped working so we tried to make a shadow of her." Morghann laughed. "I don't know where we went wrong but suddenly there was a score of Jaenelles and they were everywhere. Instead of trying to convince Saetan that Jaenelle was still home, we were frantically trying to convince him there was only one of her!" Wilhelmina laughed, picturing a young Morghann earnestly lying to Saetan.

Morghann smiled at Wilhelmina. "I'm so glad that you decided to join us for Winsol. With Jaenelle still recovering and not able to travel, it's like we have a bit of her here with us anyway."

Wilhelmina wilted into her chair, disappointed. That was why Morghann was being so friendly.

"She's not Jaenelle!" Karla spoke, her voice too loud for the room.

"Karla!" Morghann was aghast.

Wilhelmina stared at Karla, frozen by both her words and the iciness of her blue eyes. She felt anger sweep through her body in a rush of sudden heat and stood. "Don't you think I know that? I have spent my sister's entire life aware that I was not her! Not as quick as her. Not as strong as her. Not as powerful as her. Not as fascinating as her." She stepped closer to the couch where Karla sat. "I am still a person, and you have no right to sit there and act as if I have no worth, just because I am not your friend." Wilhelmina raised her arm and pointed at Karla. "You have been acting the bitch all evening and it ends now!"

For a moment there was silence. The crackling of the fire seemed intrusive. Wilhelmina dropped her arm. She was afraid to look over at Morghann after she'd been so rude to one of her best friends. She continued to stare at Karla, unable to interpret the expression on her face. Suddenly Karla started to laugh.

"There's more of Jaenelle in you than I think either of us realize." She patted the couch next to her. "Come and sit. I'm sorry for my atrocious behavior. Every minute of it. Kiss kiss." Her lips curved into a smile and her eyes danced. "Come now, you aren't going to stay angry, are you? I promise I'll be a good little witch."

Stunned and not sure what had just happened, Wilhelmina sat down on the couch and took the glass of wine Karla held out. Karla was talking animatedly now, telling another story about the past, watching Wilhelmina as she spoke. Wilhelmina listened with half her attention. She remembered asking Jaenelle once, after observing Karla in a fit of rage, why she was friends with her. She suddenly understood what Jaenelle had meant when she'd said that Karla in a bad mood was terrifying but Karla in a good mood was irresistible.

"... and it was at least a month before Mrs. Beale would serve any of Saetan's favorites again!" The two other witches laughed and, after a moment, Wilhelmina joined in.

As the laughter died down, Morghann stood. "Excuse me for a minute, please." She left the room, the door closing behind her.

Karla turned to Wilhelmina. "How long do you suppose she's sat there, needing to excuse herself, but not wanting to leave you alone with me?" Her eyes had a mischievous glint in them as she laughed at herself and Wilhelmina giggled.

"I'd guess since less than 5 minutes after I walked through the door," Wilhelmina said.

"I truly am sorry for treating you so unkindly. Particularly for that crack about Jaenelle." She gestured toward the table and the bottle of wine lifted and refilled both their glasses. "It's just..." Karla sighed a long, sad sigh. "Morton is gone. And even *Jaenelle* is no longer Jaenelle."

Wilhelmina took a long drink. She was a little afraid to say what she thought. Karla knew Jaenelle so much better than she did. She opened her mouth and then shut it again.

"What?" Wilhelmina continued to look at Karla without speaking, her eyes searching Karla's face for a sign she should continue. Karla reached out and touched Wilhelmina's hand. "Speak up. All appearances and rumors to the contrary, I rarely bite." She leaned forward and smiled. "At least, I rarely bite anyone in the *drawing* room."

Wilhelmina flushed, feeling the rush of heat prickling through her face and scalp. She took a deep breath and rushed to speak before Karla said anything else, "About Jaenelle... I'm just not sure her being different is such a bad thing. For her, I mean."

"Has she said that to you?" Karla removed her hand from Wilhelmina's and began tracing the lip of her glass with one finger.

Wilhelmina relaxed a bit and shook her head. "No, not since everything happened. It's just something she said a long time ago."

"Things change. People change. Maybe she stopped thinking that way. You don't know what she's lost! You don't know what *we've* lost." Karla's knuckles were white and there were tears in her eyes.

Wilhelmina felt helpless in the face of Karla's grief. Karla was not someone who would be comforted by vague reassurances. "For a long time I loved her in spite of her Witch nature. Can you love her without it?" Karla remained rigid for a few moments before sinking back into the couch. She ran a hand slowly through her hair, first ruffling and then tidying the spikes. She stayed silent.

"Besides, I'd rather believe Jaenelle didn't lose anything she cared about. I'd rather believe she's going to have a happy life even without all that power. Wouldn't you?" Wilhelmina asked.

Karla's hand stilled and fell into her lap. She looked over at Wilhelmina and nodded. "Thank--" She broke off as the door opened.

Khary and Morghann entered the room, Khary carrying a tray containing two silver goblets. As he set the tray down, Khary said, "It's so nice to have you here, Wilhelmina. It's almost like having a piece of Jaenelle with us."

Wilhelmina and Karla looked at each other and Karla winked with the eye only Wilhelmina could see. She turned to face him. "Mother Night! Wilhelmina is a *person* you know, not just an extension of Jaenelle," Karla scolded Khary. The three witches laughed while Khary looked at them, his forehead wrinkled in confusion and his lips forming a silent 'Wha?'

The laughter trailed off and Wilhelmina found herself smiling at Karla. "I am not even going to ask," said Khary. "Let's just begin the festivities." He handed one goblet of blooded rum across to Karla and lifted the other one up. "Karla?"

Karla held the goblet cupped in two hands and raised it slightly. She looked at Wilhelmina. "To old friends and to new. To those we love who have gone into the Darkness. To those we love who are elsewhere tonight. To the year ahead and the gifts it will bring. Happy Winsol!" She drank deeply from the cup before handing it to Wilhelmina.

Wilhelmina took the cup, her hands brushing Karla's. For a moment they held the cup together and then Karla drew her hands away. Wilhelmina's breath caught and her chest felt momentarily hollow as her heart skipped a beat. The unfamiliar sensations puzzled her but she brushed them aside for the moment. She drank from the cup, tasting the faint metallic taste of the blood mixed with the sweet rum.

"Happy Winsol," Wilhelmina said, her voice slightly rough. For once the holiday wish seemed likely to come true.

 


End file.
